Dr Ben Malunga Phiri, former personal aide to President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika was on Sunday, July 30, 2017 Guest of Honour at a ‘Women of Substance’ tea party fundraising event where hundreds of thousands of Kwacha were raised in aid of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital’s Kachere Rehabilitation Centre.

Ben Phiri addressing the women in Blantyre

Ben Phiri addressing the women in Blantyre

Listening: Ben Phiri

The women fundraising event

In his keynote address, Dr. Phiri said despite his humble background, which include dropping out of college on account of poverty, he was still determined to excel in life through hard work and belief in spirituality.

He said that success in life demands much more than mental intelligence as largely perceived by the majority. Most people think that being mentally intelligent can clear all life obstacles and propel one to greater heights. This is not the case in most circumstances, he said, adding that while mental intelligence can help you to high and admirable academic accolades, to be genuinely successful in life is a different matter altogether.

Phiri said that there is always the need for spiritual intelligence that provides one with the necessary wisdom to succeed in life. Mental intelligence, of course maybe a ladder to recognition and sometimes a better job with higher earnings but finding the job, maintaining it and putting the earnings to a profitable use require the wisdom from above, he said, explaining that most of the world’s richest people, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg are school dropouts who have succeeded in their business endeavours beyond human comprehension.

“I wish to inform everybody here, without any fear of contradiction, that I am one of the most successful entrepreneurs and politicians in Malawi not because I have high academic credentials but because I have always feared God and I always ask him for his love and guidance, beside my personal hard work and determination in whatever I set out to do and achieve. Everyone human being is a candidate for success but success will not come on its own but you have to make it happen,” Dr. Phiri said, amid handclapping from elegantly dressed ‘Women of Substance’.

He said that people have to make the necessary sacrifices in order to acquire the much-needed spiritual intelligence that will give them the wisdom to be successful.

“But what are these sacrifices? Spiritual intelligence comes from God and acquiring it requires one to submit to the will of God. There is need to conform to the attributes of God such as love, giving and honesty. Conforming here doesn’t necessarily mean to be like God but simply taking the form of God,” he said, encouraging the ‘Women of Substance’ to maintain the spirit of giving and sharing as demonstrated by the event, which took place at Southend Private School.

Dr. Phiri said the money raised at the event would go a long way to alleviate the operational problems that Kachere Rehabilitation Centre is currently facing.

“I commend you for this selfless initiative; we must desist from the dependence syndrome that as a people we are so much used to. Let us take the lead to help ourselves and others before we ask others, including government, to help us,” he said.

“One of the reason we are not developing and will remain like this for some time to come as a nation is the spirit of dependence . On our own, we don’t want to help each other but instead we wait for the government for everything. WOS have set the pace and let all us Malawians embrace the spirit of self help and develop Malawi together,” he said.

Guests at the event included businesswomen and corporate women officials from ESCOM, National Bank of Malawi, Standard Bank, Malswitch and TNM, among others. Former cabinet minister and DPP legislator for Mulanje West, ‘Akweni’ Patricia Kaliati and Dr. Ben Phiri’s wife, Twamie, also attended.

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Hahahaha..a Ben…….. successful businessman my foot. Your so called business is conduit of thievery.. Any reasonable person knows you guys are stealing from the poor People.You have your own puppet at procurement who channels all huge govt supply contracts to you.Chuma Cha magazi…

Koma zoti panali hardwork ndiye pali bodza. paja pokuti olo wakuba amathokoza Mulungu chifukwa chosagwida. Ben is making millions of Kwacha through this political connections and getting most of the tenders from government to his business associates tikuwona dont be fooled. Zizawululika. Hard work. Fotseki.

Successful business man using stolen money??Stop glorifying God as if you acquired your wealth thru had work.You stole from poor Malawian you fool and you know it.Unali ndi chani before APM ascended to presidency.”Dr” my foot!!!